Donald Trump is yet to pay a visit to the US troops fighting abroad. Here’s why.

Every Thanksgiving, the US president takes part in an important national tradition. Donald Trump is the only exception.Source:AP

Most US presidents see it as their duty to visit American troops in war zones.

From Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s to Barack Obama just a few years ago, various presidents have visited war zones in support of the soldiers fighting on behalf of their country.

But the leader of the current administration, Donald Trump, is yet to do so, and some officials say it’s a deliberate choice.

TRUMP CALLS TROOPS ON THANKSGIVING

Mr Trump has copped criticism for not paying a visit to troops on Thanksgiving.

However, it’s worth noting a US president has not visited troops on the annual holiday in 15 years.

In 2003, President George W Bush made a surprise visit to troops in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thanksgiving — a war he himself pioneered — where he publicly thanked American soldiers for their services.

US President George W. Bush wades through a crowd of American troops waving flags, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 2004.Source:Supplied

However, it has become something of an expectation for US leaders to visit troops at some point during their administrations.

Mr Bush and Mr Obama visited conflict zones several times throughout their presidencies, creating something of a “modern expectation”, according to historian and Presidents of War author Michael Beschloss.

“In modern times, we expect presidents to do that much more than in the old days when travel was more difficult,” he told The Washington Post. “When Trump doesn’t come anywhere close to meeting the expectation, it makes people wonder why.”

Barack Obama visited troops several times during his presidency.Source:News Limited

But Mr Trump is still yet to visit American troops — ever.

Not once in the President’s nearly two years in the White House has he paid a visit to a war zone, at a time when American troops have been killed fighting in seven different countries.

Today, the President will be spending the holiday in his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and has spoken to the troops by teleconference.

During the phone call, he complained about unfair trade deals, criticised Mr Obama, railed against the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and spruiked his pledge to keep illegal migrants out of the country.

When an Air Force general in Afghanistan said the men fighting know their mission is to prevent more attacks on US soil, he replied: “Keep them away from our shores. That’s why we’re doing the strong borders. You probably see over the news what’s happening on our southern border, and our southern border territory. Large numbers of people, and in many cases, we have no idea who they are. In many cases they’re not good people.”

A number of other American leaders visited war zones at various points during their administrations.

In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower met US commanders in Korea during the war there.

Lyndon Johnson made a surprise visit to South Vietnam in 1967, as did Richard Nixon three years later.

In 1990, George H W Bush celebrated Thanksgiving with the troops in Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield.

In 1999, Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with troops in Kosovo which was then part of Yugoslavia.

President Dwight Eisenhower (front seat) preparing to leave after visiting the South Korean Capitol division rest area in Korea during Korean War 1952.Source:News Limited

President Lyndon Johnson talks to troops at Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.Source:AP

USA politician President Richard Nixon and USA soldiers at first division base camp of Di An in South Vietnam during Vietnam War.Source:News Limited

WHY HASN’T TRUMP VISITED TROOPS YET?

Mr Trump claims that he opposes visiting the troops due to ideological reasons.

But according to the Post, it’s because he doesn’t want to risk his own life.

A senior White House official said the President has privately spoken about fears visiting war zones will put himself in harm’s way.

“He’s never been interested in going,” the official said. “He’s afraid of those situations. He’s afraid people want to kill him.”

The President claims he declines to visit combat regions because he doesn’t want to associate himself with wars he views as failures.

For what it’s worth, Mr Trump initially expressed support for the Iraq War — despite his frequent denials of this in recent years.

In a Howard stern interview in 2002, he was asked: “Are you for invading Iraq?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied. “I wish the first time it was done correctly.”

In his 2000 book The America We Deserve, Mr Trump speculated on whether Iraq did indeed have nuclear weapons, saying: “If we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion. When we don’t, we have the worst of all worlds: Iraq remains a threat, and now has more incentive than ever to attack us.”

Mr Trump claims that he opposes visiting the troops due to ideological reasons. But according to reports, he doesn’t want to put his own life at risk.Source:AFP

Despite never having visited the troops, Mr Trump recently told Fox News: “I don’t think anybody’s been more with the military than I have, as a president. In terms of funding, in terms of all of the things I’ve been able to get them, including the vets.”

Mr Trump has received five deferments from military service in his life. Four came when he was in university, studying at Fordham and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

After graduating, when he was no longer eligible for educational deferments, he received a medical deferment for bone spurs in his heels.

According to The New York Times, he had a previously “unblemished” medical history. Curiously, he had been physically examined by the armed forces in 1966, two years before the bone spurs diagnosis, the Post reported.

On that occasion, he did not receive a deferment, demonstrating that he was fit for military service.

When asked for the name of the doctor who issued the diagnosis, he said he couldn’t remember.

Donald Trump and John McCain have sparred frequently over the years.Source:AFP

Late Senator John McCain, who actually did serve in the Vietnam War, appeared to criticise Mr Trump during a TV interview last year.

“One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say they had a bone spur.

“That is wrong. That is wrong. If we are going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”

However, Mr Trump has hinted at an upcoming trip to a war zone. “I think you will see that happen,” he said of the potential trip. “There are things that are being planned. We don’t want to talk about it because of security reasons and everything else.”